Who was the first manufacturer of bicycles in the world?
The first BICYCLE was manufactured by Pierre Michaux, coachbuilder of the Cite Godot de Mauroy, Paris. The company established to manufacture the pedal velocipede was called `La Compagnie Parisienne Ancienne Maison Michaux et Cie’. Two models were produced in 1861, presumably as patterns, and regular series production commenced the following year, when 142 cycles were manufactured and sold.
The first production model brought to Britain was purchased in 1864 by J. Townsend Trench from Pierre Michaux in Paris and subsequently ridden by him in England and at his home at Kenmare, Ireland. The first bicycles imported for sale were Pickering & Davis American Velocipedes, shipped to Liverpool in 1867 by the manufacturers’ agents Samuel & Pearce where they were sold to members of the Liverpool Gymnasium. These enthusiastic wheel men then founded Britain’s first cycling club, the Liverpool Velocipede Club.
